THE FAMOUS COYOTE HUNT 



19 



could penetrate the morning air. More 

 were constantly coming tip from the 

 rear and falling into the lines, so that 

 there was only a distance of one or two 

 hundred yards between horsemen. Up 

 and down the lines the officers rode, dis- 

 tributing the hunters in the proper dis- 

 tances from each other. Some had 



line of horsemen, and in many ways 

 proved themselves equal to the best men 

 in the saddle. We were assured by the 

 captain, who happened to be near us, 

 that the thirty-mile circle was as com- 

 plete all around as upon the part we 

 could see. 



The horsemen themselves were pic- 



THE KILL 



strings of hounds, yellow, ugly-looking 

 creatures that looked much like wolves, 

 but in the open they could outrun any- 

 thing on foot. These were also dis- 

 tributed at given points in the line, and 

 kept in leash, that they might be fresh 

 when needed, rather than to run them- 

 selves down on jack rabbits. 



The appearance of the whole was not 

 unlike a large scouting detachment of 

 cavalry. The resemblance to an army 

 on the move did not altogether end here, 

 for behind the line of horsemen came a 

 miscellaneous crowd of camp followers 

 and "grub" wagons, the plains for miles 

 being dotted with rigs of various kinds, 

 loaded with men, women and children. 

 Not a few women were also in the front 



turesque in the extreme. They repre- 

 sented practically every kind of business 

 in the state. There were hardy-looking 

 plainsmen, with woolly chaps, high- 

 heeled boots and spurs, astride wiry cow 

 ponies, riding immediately alongside a 

 college professor or a banker, in the 

 most up-to-date park riding habit. Even 

 an occasional Englishman could be seen, 

 riding with short stirrups and extremely 

 awkward in appearance, compared with 

 the grace of the cow man, who rode 

 as though he and his horse were 

 one. 



The advance was at a slow canter, 

 and for a couple of miles furnished no 

 more excitement than the novelty of the 

 scene, and that peculiar indescribable 



